The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having a metallic shell for providing EMI protection and for soldering onto a printed circuit board.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,738,544, 5,755,595, and 5,797,770 each disclose a conventional electrical connector which is adapted to be mounted to the printed circuit board where the rear portion of the connector is seated around the front edge portion of the printed circuit board while the front portion of the connector projects beyond the front edge of the printed circuit board with a distance. Referring to FIG. 5, an electrical connector 1 has a metal shield 10 for receiving an insulative housing 12 therein. A plurality of terminals (not shown) is received in corresponding passageways defined in the insulative housing 12. A pair of retention legs 14 is formed at lateral sides of the metal shield 10 for extending through a pair of mounting holes defined in the printed circuit board for mounting the electrical connector 1 onto the circuit board. Thus this connection requires that a pair of mounting hole defined in the printed circuit board. However, because of the increasing density of conductive elements on circuit board, the mounting holes defined in the printed circuit board will complicate designing the circuit routing of the board. Therefore, the cost of the circuit board will increase also.